#b#Scouts Move Up#/b#
Cub Scouts from Pack 48 of West Windsor advanced in rank on February 25. The pack celebrated the 102nd anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America with their Blue and Gold banquet.
Benjamin Adams and Christopher Gonnella earned the Arrow of Light, Cub Scouting’s highest award, by earning 11 or more Webelos activity badges. They were welcomed to the Boy Scouts by assistant scoutmaster Mark Lee of Troop 66.
In addition, 32 Pack 48 scouts earned rank badges through projects in citizenship, fitness, ecological awareness, use of hand tools, and other areas. Zach Austin, Aidan Crichton, Matt Devine, Ryan Hu, Tyler Lane, JJ Lee, Anish Mago, Carter Mudgett, Lakshay Patel, Aditya Rao, Arsh Rupani, and Ryan Toth earned Webelos I badges.
Bear rank was achieved by Aayush Chopra, Joseph Di Russo, Tom Durie, Arthur Li, Pranav Mahableshwarkar, Ryan Roberts, Parth Sharma, and Benjamin Tomfohrde.
Wolf rank was achieved by Jaron Bohannon, Emmanuel Flores Serrano, Thomas Kemeklis, Adam Lee, Nicholas Lennox, Timothy Roberts, Gabriel Saintil, Gabriel Scavo, Alexander Slavinsky, and Zachary Urban.
Matthew Benjamin and Tobias Urban, the youngest scouts, earned their first major rank, Tiger rank.
In addition, four scouts earned religious emblems for their faiths: Jaron Bohannon, Thomas Kemeklis, Ryan Roberts, and Timothy Roberts.
Cub Scout Pack 48 is led by Cubmaster Greg Di Russo and assistant Cubmasters Vikram Mago and Jason Lee. The pack is chartered to Prince of Peace Lutheran Church. Recent projects include collecting food donations for the Crisis Ministry of Princeton and Trenton and gathering school supplies for A2Z Mentoring.
#b#Physics Qualifiers#/b#
Four students from High School South qualified as semi-finalists for the 2012 U.S. Physics Team. Peter Ku, Bill Huang, Arka Adhikari, and Daniel Vaysburd are among the 390 semi-finalists, considered to be among the best physics students in the nation.
The International Physics Olympiad, a nine-day competition among pre-university students from more than 80 nations, began in 1986 to promote and demonstrate academic excellence. This year’s event will be held in Tartu, Estonia, from July 15 to 24.
#b#Science Olympiad#/b#
Four WW-P schools placed well in the recent Science Olympiad competitions. Community Middle School’s Science Olympiad team, coached by Kyle Schimpf, Taran Patton, and Arthur Downs, won the state championship tournament. The CMS team will represent New Jersey at the Science Olympiad National Tournament in May.
The award winners include:
Anatomy: Seventh place for Jeremy Zhang and Jasen Zhang.
Awesome Aquifers: Second place for Edison Lee and Sundar Solai.
Bottle Rocket: Second place for Matthew Pan and Alex Jiang.
Compute This: Seventh place for Alan Xu and Varun Subbiah.
Crime Busters: Second place for Ben Yang and Jasen Zhang.
Disease Detectives: Fourth place for Ben Yang and Nikita Nangia.
Dynamic Planet: Second place for Alan Xu and Sundar Solai.
Experimental Design: Second place for Edison Lee, Roger Jin, and Nikita Nangia.
Food Science: Fourth place for Nikita Nangia and Ben Yang.
Forestry: Seventh place for Kimberly Ding and Shannon Sheu.
Helicopters: First place for Tyler Shen and James Zou.
Keep the Heat: First place for Jacob Edelman and Roger Jin.
Meteorology: Second place for Reuben Van Eck and Shannon Sheu.
Microbe Mission: Fourth place for Edison Lee and Matthew Pan.
Mission Possible: Fifth place for Kathryn Khaw, Louis Wang, and Matthew Pan.
Optics: Third place for Jacob Edelman and Sundar Solai.
Picture This: First place for Ashu Shaik, Vrinda Gupta, and Charles Dai.
Reach for the Stars: Second place for Andrew Hong and Reuben Van Eck.
Road Scholar: First place for Mahesh Khanwalkar and Ryan Zhang; second place for Varun Subbiah and Alan Xu.
Rocks and Minerals: First place for Reuben Van Eck and Varun Subbiah.
Storm the Castle: Fifth place for Kathryn Khaw and Andrew Hong.
Towers: First place for Louis Wang and Alex Jiang.
Water Quality: First place for Edison Lee and Shannon Sheu.
Grover Middle School placed fourth in the competition. The coach is Rae McKenna.
Medal winners include:
Bottle Rocket: Seventh place for Chiru Koiloth and Aditya Iyer.
Compute This: Eighth place for Jordon DeGroote and Anish Visaria.
Crime Busters: Seventh place for Neha Nadkarni and Vishal Tummallipati.
Dynamic Planet: Sixth place for Catherine Lee and Tiffaney Hsia.
Food Science: First place for Eric Li and Abraham Park.
Forestry: First place for Catherine Lee and Neha Nadkarni.
Keep the Heat: Third place for Eric Miscell and Abraham Park,
Microbe Mission: Sixth place for Dhruva Byrapatna and Charles Xiong.
Mousetrap Vehicle: Sixth place for Chiru Koiloth and Aditya Iyer.
Optics: Second place for Eric Mischell and Will Jiao.
Picture This: Third place for Nishant Iyengar, Angela You, and Allison Li.
Water Quality: Sixth place for Anusha Chintalapati and Sushni Mukkamalla.
High School North science olympiad team placed second in the state competition. Coaches include Jim Looney and Rich Therkorn.
Medal winners include:
Anatomy and Physiology: First place for Aastha Chokshi and Payal Marathe.
Astronomy: Second place for Bolong Xu and Rohan Agrawal.
Chem Clues: Fourth place for Danika Baskar and Eugene Tang.
Chemistry Lab: First place for Felix Xiao and Matthew Zang.
Disease Detective: Fifth place for Barbara Zhan and Lyric Gupta.
Epidemiology Challenge: First place for Aastha Chokshi, Jayati Verma, Eric Yang, and Lyric Gupta.
Experimental Design: Sixth place for Felix Xiao, Eugene Tang and Daniel Liu.
Fermi Questions: Fourth place for Eric Yang and Brice Huang.
Forestry: Fifth place for Daniel Liu and Avinash Subramanian.
Gravity Vehicle: Sixth place for Jenn Ibanez and Maunika Atmakuri.
Helicopter: Second place for Felix Su and Claire Su.
Microbe Mission: Fifth place for Bolong Xu and Payal Marathe.
Remote Sensing: First place for Matthew Zang and Rohan Agrawal.
Robot Arm: Third place for Felix Su and Claire Su.
Rocks and Minerals: First place for Eugene Tang and Avinash Subramanian.
Sounds of Music: First place for Felix Xiao and Claire Su. Technical Problem Solving: First place for Daniel Liu and Eric Yang.
Thermodynamics: First place for Felix Xiao and Aastha Chokshi. Towers; Seventh place for Maunika Atmakuri and Jenn Ibanez.
Water Quality: Fifth place for Barbara Zhan and Jayati Verma.
Write-it/Do-it: Fifth place for Claire Su and Maunike Atmakuri.
High School South science olympiad team placed first in the state competition and will compete in the national competition in May. The coaches are Meenakshi Bhattacharya and Sunila Sharma.
The medal winners include:
Anatomy and Physiology: Eighth place for Kiran Vaidya and Aayush Visaria.
Astronomy: Third place for Aayush Visaria and Kiran Vaidya.
Chemistry Clue: First place for Andrew Chen and Elizabeth Yang.
Chemistry Lab: Fifth place for Alexander Clifton and Jeffrey Kuan.
Disease Detectives: Second place for Jonathan Ting and Neil Chitrao.
Dynamic Planet: Second place for Peter Ku and Bill Huang.
Epidemiology Challenge: Second place for Udit Gupta, Jonathan Kuan, Elizabeth Yang, and Sahana Jayaraman.
Experimental Design: Third place for Udit Gupta, Rishab Singh, and Yinan Zheng.
Fermi Questions: Second place for Bill Huang and Neil Chitrao.
Forensics: Third place for Sophia Liu and Jonathan Ting.
Forestry: Second place for Ikshita Singh and Jason Shi.
Gravity Vehicle: Third place for Sarath Jaladi and Maymur Baig.
Helicopters: First place for Jonathan Kuan and Maymur Baig.
Microbe Mission: Eighth place for Neil Chitrao and Jeffrey Kuan.
Optics: First place for Peter Ku and Jason Shi.
Protein Modeling: Fourth place for Charles Zhou, Kiran Vaidya, and Ikshita Singh.
Remote Sensing: Fifth place for Neil Chitrao and Yinan Zheng.
Robot Arm: First place for Sarath Jaladi and Maymur Baig.
Rocks and Minerals: Third place for Jonathan Kuan and Aayush Visaria.
Sounds of Music: Second place for Charles Zhou and Jeffrey Kuan.
Technical problem Solving: Fifth place for Alexander Clifton and Peter Ku.
Thermodynamics: Fourth place for Udit Gupta and Jason Shi.
Towers: Second place for Sophia Liu and Sarath Jaladi.
Water Quality: First place for Rishab Singh and Sophia Liu.
Write it Do It: First place for Charles Zhou and Peter Ku.
#b#Science Bowl: First For Grover#/b#
Grover Middle School’s team took first place in Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory annual Science Bowl. The team members include Will Jiao, Eric Mischell, Dhruva Byrapatna, Vijay Krishnan, and Angela You. Their coach is Rae McKenna. They will all be heading to Washington, D.C., to compete in the finals.
#b#MathCounts: State Champs#/b#
Grover Middle School team members William Jiao, John Suh, Dhruva Byrapatna, and Kai Zheng took first place in the state championship. Bharath Jaladi competed as an individual.
Community Middle School team members Kimberly Ding, Tyler Shen, Christopher Xue, and Jeffery Yu took third place.
William Jiao and Tyler Shen placed first and third and will compete in the national event in Florida. Alyce Doehner, the team coach, will accompany the New Jersey National Team to the national competition.
All nine WW-P students placed in the top 19. William Jiao, Grover Middle School, first place; Tyler Shen, Community Middle School, third place; Christopher Xue, Community Middle School, fifth place; John Suh, Grover Middle School, eighth place; Jeffery Yu, Community Middle School, tenth place; Bharath Jaladi, Grover Middle School, 15th place; Dhruva Byrapatna, Grover Middle School, 16th place; Kai Zheng, Grover Middle School, 17th place; and Kimberly Ding, Community Middle School, 19th place.
The student coaches assisting Doehner include Alexander Clifton from High School South and Brice Huang from High School North.
#b#Problem Solving Teams Advance#/b#
Winners from WW-P schools in the state problem solving competition include:
Action Plan Skit Competition: Junior division: Community Middle School: Second place for Shambavi Mishra, Samantha Immidisetti, Rithika Ganesh, and Matthew Bergman.
Action Plan Skit Competition: Middle Division: Grover Middle School: Third place for Matt Deslatte, Varna Kodoth, Eric Li, Jenny Liu, and Jaidev Phadke.
Action Plan Skit Competition, Senior Division: High School South: First place for Anushka Gupta, Jeffrey Kuan, Jyotsna Suresh, and Krishna Trivedi. High School North: Third place for Bolong Xu, Morven Chin, Pratyush Trivedi, and Vishan Nigam.
Video Action Plan Competition, Middle Division: Community Middle School: First place for Ryan Zhang, Cathy Wu, Catherine Huang, Alex Jeon, Ritvik Vaish, and Disha Hegde
Global Issues Individual Problem Solving, Middle Division: Community Middle School: Third place for Kimberly Ding.
Global Issues Individual Problem Solving, Senior Division: High School North: First place for Aditya Bindra and second place for Max Puthenpura.
Global Issues Team Problem Solving, Junior Division Community Middle School: Second place for Kristina Khaw, Hasit Dantara, Daniel Wang, and Harini Srinivasan
Global Issues Team Problem Solving, Middle Division: High School South: First place for Angela Mao, Kunal Rath, Michelle Zheng, and Alex Zhou; and second place for Rahul Arora, Akhil Dondapati, Nishad Maskara, and Aleck Zhao.
Global Issues Team Problem Solving, Senior Division: High School South: First place for Kushal Gandhi, Sophia Liu, Vedant Sachdeva, and Ikshita Singh. High School North: Second place for Bolong Xu, Morven Chin, Pratyush Trivedi, and Vishan Nigam.
Scenario Writing, Junior Division: Community Middle School: First place for Anna Hsu.
Scenario Writing, Middle Division: Community Middle School: First place for Talia Lang. Grover Middle School: Third place for Masha Zhdanova.
Scenario Writing, Senior Division: High School North: First place for Aditya Koppikar. High School South: Second place for Angela Yao, and third place for Jennifer Kim.
#b#Aspirations in Computing#/b#
Ashika Ganesh, a sophomore at High School North, was recently honored with the National Center for Women and Information Technology’s Aspirations in Computing Award. Ganesh is receiving the award due to her aptitude and interest in information technology and computing; solid leadership ability; strong academic history; and plans for post-secondary education.
She is one of eleven women who were selected from area high schools.
#b#Consumer Bowl#/b#
A team of students from High School South took the top honor at the 2012 Mercer County Consumer Bowl, beating out five other area high schools in a quiz-show-style competition on good consumer practices. The annual event is held by the Mercer County Division of Consumer Affairs and pits teams from various local high schools against one another to test their knowledge on being a smart shopper. This year’s competition was held March 20 at the Stone Terrace in Hamilton.
South team members are Matthew Sheffield, the captain, Peter Altamore, Ross Ellison, Joe Wagner, and Ian Altamore. The team adviser is Maureen S. Leleszi.
The competition was created by the Mercer County Division of Consumer Affairs in 1994 as a way to encourage students to become smarter consumers, to be wary of scams and unfair business practices, and to be knowledgeable when obtaining services like home improvements or buying products such as vehicles or appliances.
Participating schools included Ewing High School, Hightstown High School; Nottingham High School; Steinert High School, and West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North. High School South will go on to compete at the Regional Consumer Bowl next month in Monmouth County.
#b#In College#/b#
Georgetown University: Rachel Carandang of West Windsor is on the fall dean’s list. She received first honors for a GPA of 3.9 or above on a 4.0 scale.
University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business: Junichi R. Hara, a graduate of High School South, Class of 2009, received the James B. Angell Scholar Award for four consecutive academic achievements of high distinction. He was also inducted into Phi Kappa Phi honors society and Beta Gamma Sigma international business honors society.
#b#Births#/b#
The University Medical Center at Princeton has announced the following birth:
A daughter was born to Plainsboro residents Manjari Vishnubhotla and Chandrasekhar Rupakuka, March 25.
